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The Case for Using a Paper Planner
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Posted by jaslar
Mar 28, 2019 at 07:17 PM
I’m sure many of you have seen this (it came out in January of 2018), but it’s an enjoyable read, from NYT: https://nyti.ms/2E3SIUq
I suspect it will resonate with many here. The overview:
“Planners typically serve one of five functions.”
- Strict scheduling.
- Goal planning.
- Artistic planning (they seem to mean doodling)
- Memory keeping
- Bullet journaling
That article also urges the reader to check out the Traveler’s Notebook. A Japanese product, it does look beguiling.
https://www.travelers-company.com/products/trnote/about
If anyone uses it, I’d like to hear more about it.
Years ago, before smartphones, I bought a leather binder, then designed all my own pages. With tabs, it was actually a delight to me, and did more to organize my life than my phone does now, probably.
Posted by Reder
Mar 28, 2019 at 11:53 PM
I have been using Sharp Electronic Notebook (https://enote.neocities.org/) since early this year and it’s a nice balance between physical and digital to me.
I like the size of it (about the same size as a 6 inch Kindle) and I can have multiple notebooks at hand without a bulk size (easy to separate personal and work related notes). It does not have OCR but I can export images for backup, though most of the notes are fleeting notes that should be reviewed, parsed and discarded. The interface is all Japanese but it’s quite simple to use.
I will definitely recommend it if you can stand the defects – the screen is reflective and it does not have backlight. It is also hard to beat the price ($120 to get the latest version from http://www.amazon.co.jp with international shipping).
Posted by thouqht
Mar 29, 2019 at 01:10 PM
I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s best to plan digitally and reflect analog.
Plans are for the future. Our plans often need to change. Trying to be flexible with your planning in a paper system quickly gets quite messy. The more complex your plans are, the more true this is. If you live a simple life with few moving parts, then this may not be true for you. But for me, this just doesn’t fit. Instead I use org-mode (or whatever todo list I’m trying out) and a calendar to do this.
Reflection is for the past. The past doesn’t change. This goes well with paper. I currently have two journals, one for thoughts another that I use as my worklog where I track what I actually do with my time and days (which ends up being a tremendous focus tool).
The side product of this is that I end up producing artifacts of my thoughts and work that I are of high quality that I’ll want to hold on to forever. Fill a journal & see how you feel about it. Fill a text file, see how you feel about it. Analog artifacts seem to hold more emotional & psychological value. Years into the future I’ll be fine not knowing what I was *planning* to do with a particular day or week, but I will be happy to know what I actually *did*.
Posted by Stephen Zeoli
Mar 29, 2019 at 05:23 PM
That’s a welcome insight. Thanks!
Steve
thouqht wrote:
I’ve come to the conclusion that it’s best to plan digitally and reflect
>analog.
>
>Plans are for the future. Our plans often need to change. Trying to be
>flexible with your planning in a paper system quickly gets quite messy.
>The more complex your plans are, the more true this is. If you live a
>simple life with few moving parts, then this may not be true for you.
>But for me, this just doesn’t fit. Instead I use org-mode (or whatever
>todo list I’m trying out) and a calendar to do this.
>
>Reflection is for the past. The past doesn’t change. This goes well with
>paper. I currently have two journals, one for thoughts another that I
>use as my worklog where I track what I actually do with my time and days
>(which ends up being a tremendous focus tool).
>
>The side product of this is that I end up producing artifacts of my
>thoughts and work that I are of high quality that I’ll want to hold on
>to forever. Fill a journal & see how you feel about it. Fill a text
>file, see how you feel about it. Analog artifacts seem to hold more
>emotional & psychological value. Years into the future I’ll be fine not
>knowing what I was *planning* to do with a particular day or week, but I
>will be happy to know what I actually *did*.
Posted by Paul Korm
Mar 29, 2019 at 07:47 PM
Nice info @jasler—I enjoy my Traveler’s notebook a lot. And my micro index cards.
Good thoughts, @thought—thanks for that.
Back in the pre-smart anything days, a Day Timer was the premium paper agenda product. Beside the core paper agenda, there were lots of fiddly add-ons. You couldn’t go to a meeting or an office without everyone pulling out their Day Timers. The company is still around. As are Rolodexes. Nowadays, if someone gives me a business card, I pocket it and throw it away later, since it’s almost impossible to meet with someone and not already know their email and contact info.